Meeting the OMB Policy Deadline

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Meeting the OMB Policy Deadline

• Candi Harrison, Co-Chair
• Web Managers Advisory Council
• Candis_B._Harrison_at_hud.gov

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OMB policies issued 12/17/04 reference laws
that apply to federal public websites and add new
requirements we all must meet by 12/31/05
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The Mandate
Cover memo cites recommendations and best
practices on webcontent.gov to implement the
policiesso if you implement the recommendations,
you should be fine
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The Strategy

• Understand what you have to do
• Figure out what youve already done
• Sort the rest into two piles
• Things you can do quickly do them!
• Things that may take awhile start the process
• Elevate potential issues NOW dont wait until
  the E-Gov report is due

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Step 1 Understand what you have to do

• Helpful Hints
• Read the ICGI report
• http//www.cio.gov/documents/ICGI/ICGI-June9report
  .pdf

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Read the ICGI report
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Step 1 Understand what you have to do
Helpful Hints 2. Review the crosswalk between
the OMB policies and the ICGI recommendations
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Review the crosswalk
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Step 1 Understand what you have to do
Helpful Hints 3. Review the web implications of
OMB A-130
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Implications of OMB A-130
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Step 1 Understand what you have to do
Helpful Hints 4. Check out the implementation
guidance on Webcontent.gov
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Review guidance on Webcontent.gov
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Step 2 Figure out what youve done
At HUD, we used this checklist to see which of
the ICGI recommendations we had implemented and
which we had not
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Step 3 Sort into two piles

• Probably will find youve done more than you
  thought you had
• Make the quick fixes
• Dont reinvent the wheel beg, borrow, steal!
• For example, linking policies check out
  Webcontent.gov
• Assign tasks and assign deadlines
• Now deal with the hard stuff

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Policy 1

• Establish and maintain information dissemination
  product inventories, priorities, and schedules
• Key words timely, equitable, efficient,
  appropriate
• What could be hard
• Provide access to documents in different file
  formats (equitable)
• Provide access for people with disabilities
  (equitable) watch those PDFs and Powerpoints!
• Provide access to people with limited English
  proficiency (equitable)
• Use plain language (appropriate)

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Policy 2

• Ensure information quality
• Key words quality, objectivity, utility,
  integrity, timely, equitable
• What could be hard
• Quality challenges us to post only information
  that we know to be accurate and to inform the
  public if we are not sure
• Objectivity challenges us to keep information
  and services balanced

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Policy 3

• Establish and enforce agency-wide linking
  policies
• Key points Links, quality of information, and
  again - objectivity
• Concerned about
• Linking to information that may not be accurate
• Keeping web content objective
• Ensuring certain information is available on all
  websites
• What could be hard
• Need to be sure you have procedures to monitor
  links
• Need to be sure youre linking to all required
  info and sites

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Policy 4

• Communicate with the public, state and local
• governments
• Talk to your audiences
• Know what they want and need and provide it
• What could be hard
• Measure customer satisfaction and usability and
  use results to improve your website
• Lots of help check out webcontent.gov and
  usability.gov

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Policy 5

• Search public websites
• Keys
• Have a search function or (for smaller sites) a
  site index or map
• Watch file formats
• Create data so it can be combined and sorted -
  metadata, XML schemas can help
• What could be hard
• Establish search standards
• Use standard metadata
• Additional policies or guidance may be coming in
  December

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Policy 6

• Use approved domains
• Very important federal websites not on .gov or
  .mil or .fed.us must be moved to .gov or .mil or
  .fed.us
• Also refers to sponsorship and the importance
  of showing government sponsorship
• Usability testing showed URLs are very important
  in establishing public trust
• What could be hard
• This is the one that is causing most distress for
  agencies that have not controlled domains

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Policy 7

• Implement security controls
• Security - not exactly a content issue but
  important for content managers and contributors
  to know
• What could be hard
• Need to consult with your CIO to make sure
  controls are in place

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Policy 8

• Protect privacy
• Privacy not newjust re-emphasized
• What could be hard
• Make sure you do what you say youll do

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Policy 9

• Maintain accessibility
• Accessibility also not new
• 508 policies already well-known
• Lots of guidance on www.access-board.gov
• What could be hard
• LEP could present challenges for web managers
• Accessibility also applies to people with low
  bandwidth, people who dont own certain
  proprietary software

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Policy 10

• Manage records
• Establish procedures to handle web records
• NARA is creating a website to showcase best
  practices
• What could be hard
• Setting up a process to make sure web pages that
  are records are transferred in a timely manner

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OMB policies cite OMB A-130 throughout you need
to know it and understand it
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OMB A-130 How Does It Relate?

• Section 7b
• What It Says Government information is a
  valuable national resource. It provides the
  public with knowledge of the government, society,
  and economy -- past, present, and future. It is
  a means to ensure the accountability of
  government, to manage the government's
  operations, to maintain the healthy performance
  of the economy, and is itself a commodity in the
  marketplace.
• What It Means
• This is a biggie! Government information is,
  itself, a product that we need to manage
  effectively
• It also underscores the need to maintain
  historical information across administrations

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OMB A-130How Does It Relate?

• Section 7d
• What It Says In order to minimize the cost and
  maximize the usefulness of government
  information, the expected public and private
  benefits derived from government information
  should exceed the public and private costs of the
  information, recognizing that the benefits to be
  derived from government information may not
  always be quantifiable.
• What It Means We cant always put a dollar
  amount on the value of our information, but we
  need to make sure the cost of creating and
  managing web content doesnt exceed the value
• Gerry McGovern If 99 of web audience is using
  1 of the website, are you really investing your
  resources properly?

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OMB A-130How Does It Relate?

• Section 7j
• What It Says Because state and local
  governments are important producers of government
  information for many areas such as health, social
  welfare, labor, transportation, and education,
  the federal government must cooperate with these
  governments in the management of information
  resources.
• What It Means Work with state and local
  governments to trade links, combine content, and
  eliminate duplication

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OMB A-130How Does It Relate?

• Section 8(a) (1) (b)
• What It Says Consider the effects of actions on
  members of the public and ensure consultation
  with the public as appropriate
• What It Means
• Reach out to the public to find out what they
  want on your website
• Listen to the feedback you are receiving from the
  public
• Measure usability and customer satisfaction and
  use it to improve your website

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OMB A-130How Does It Relate?

• Section 8(a) (1)(d)
• What It Says Seek to satisfy new information
  needs through
• interagency or intergovernmental sharing of
  information, or
• through commercial sources, where appropriate,
  before creating
• or collecting new information
• What It Means
• Avoid duplication - create content once and use
  it many times through links
• Collaborate with other organizations or agencies
  on content
• Develop cross-agency websites as appropriate
• Use metadata and XML schemas across government to
  help aggregate information on the same subject or
  for the same audience

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OMB A-130How Does It Relate?

• Section 8(a) (1) (k)(2)
• What It Says Agencies must collect or create
  only that information necessary for the proper
  performance of agency functions and which has
  practical utility
• What It Means
• Web content must be mission-related

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OMB A-130How Does It Relate?

• Section 8(a) (1) (k)(2)
• What It Says Consider whether an information
  dissemination product available from other
  Federal or nonfederal sources is equivalent to an
  agency information dissemination product and
  reasonably fulfills the dissemination
  responsibilities of the agency
• What It Means
• Do not duplicate efforts. Link, link, link
• Work with the other agencies to develop one
  source for the content

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Step 4 Elevate issues NOW!

• Your CIO will have to report compliance in annual
  E-Gov report (normally in early December)
• If there are policies you cant meet tell your
  bosses now
• At a minimum, have a plan in place

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• Where can you get help?
• Join the Web Content Managers Forum
• Sign up through webcontent.gov
• Visit webcontent.govoften!
• Build local networks across agencies

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Questions? Comments? Candi Harrison, Advisory
Council Co-Chair 520-670-6237 ext.
228 Candis_B._Harrison_at_hud.gov Kate Donohue,
Advisory Council Co-Chair 202-693-5945 donohue.kat
e_at_dol.gov Sheila Campbell, Webcontent.gov Web
Manager 202-208-5588 sheila.campbell_at_gsa.gov